Roz Savage’s attempt to row across the Pacific Ocean single handed has ended after only 10 days at sea. She was rescued by a US Coast Guard helicopter about 90 miles offshore.

Roz set off from California on August 12 seeking to become the first woman to row alone across the Pacific.

Her reason for this record-breaking attempt was to raise awareness of marine pollution. In particular, the North Pacific Gyre, a swirling vortex of currents that traps vast quantities of rubbish, mainly plastic.

Unfortunately this attempt came to a premature end after gale force winds and heavy seas caused her to capsize and she lost valuable equipment. None more so than the sea anchor that should have kept her boat facing into the waves! Even the backup line to the sea anchor, the tripline, had been severed in the storm. This meant that she had no defence against further capsizes.

According to the USCG, the weather was going to get even worse over the next 48 hours. Roz was already on the outer edge of the range of the USCG helicopters. They also told her that by tomorrow she would be out of range of a helicopter rescue, and it would not be possible to get a boat out to her in these conditions.

Althouth her insticnt was to tough it out, she could tell that the Coast Guard were very concerned. As a result, she took the decision to abandon the Brocade and try again at a later date.

Apart from a few cuts and bruises, Roz is fine and is already making plans to return to the Brocade as soon as possible and continue her journey.